Sampson and Delilah
by Mishiko Shinsei
Summary: One shot. Because of Yuki, Kyo cuts his hair. Disclaimer: Just own the words, not the folks.


Sampson and Delilah 

Clumps of orange hair were scattered about the room; some long, some short, some bloody. Some lay on top of shredded drawings, mangled pictures and ripped clothing. Books with pages torn out littered the bed and the desk in the corner. Pieces of a solid jade cat lay on the floor under the wall that shattered it.

He wanted to remove all hints of Yuki, that filthy rat. That liar. That asshole. It was bad enough that he left him, but for Kagura? Kagura! Yuki knew how much Kyo despised that spoiled bitch. Especially after what she'd said to him…

No. He won't think about that now. This time is reserved to erase Yuki from his heart. Kagura had been dismissed long ago, ironically, with Yuki's help.

Snarling, he looks at the ring on his left hand. What a joke. They weren't married. Not legally.

'So I guess he didn't really break any vows,' he frowns.

But they'd had a ceremony in front of friends and family. Said vows. Promised each other.

"You promised, Yuki," he whispers sadly, unable to stop the sobs that begin wracking his body.

Kyo had grown his hair long for Yuki. The waist-length main brought a smile to Yuki's face each time he saw it. Now, it was shorn from Kyo's head and strewn about like garbage.

Akito was the first to tell him that Yuki had left him, which is why Kyo dismissed it initially. The fact that Akito strongly disapproved of he and Yuki's relationship was no secret. Actually, Akito was very angry, accusing Kyo of 'stealing his Yuki' when he and Yuki got together during their first year of college. Really, Kagura should take the blame. Had she not destroyed Kyo when he confessed his long-suffering love for her right after his high school graduation, Yuki wouldn't have had the opportunity to pick up the pieces.

Kyo remembers that Akito had called one evening about two months ago, a few hours before Yuki was due home from a business trip to Kyoto. He and Kyo lived in a smallish apartment in the Tokyo suburbs, near Shigure's. They'd only lived there about six months, having had to move from their original place of four years because Akito kept harassing them with his presence at odd hours. Only the gods know how many times they'd changed their phone number to avoid the three, four and five am calls.

"Kyo," Akito had purred menacingly, "I have some news for you."

"What do you want, Akito," Kyo had spit; sorry he'd picked up the phone when the caller Id hadn't identified the number. Swearing under his breath, he'd tried to figure out how she'd gotten their number yet again. When Yuki got home, he'd tell him not to bother changing it anymore.

"Yuki won't be coming home," she'd replied in that same menacing purr.

"What the fuck are you talking about!"

"Yuki won't be coming back. He's tired of living with a thing like you. He's with Kagura now."

Kyo had laughed out loud; laughed so hard tears came to his eyes and his stomach began to ache. He didn't even remember hanging up the phone. Yuki with Kagura! Ridiculous!

But when Yuki didn't come home….

The next day he'd called Yuki's friends, but none of them had any idea. His job hadn't seen or heard from him since he left for the trip. After the third day, he'd reported him missing to the police. He waited almost two weeks before he contacted any of the Sohma clan.

Haru had been away modeling and had no information on Yuki's whereabouts. Momiji lived in America now, but he hadn't heard anything either. Shigure seemed honestly shocked that Yuki was missing, which only worried Kyo even more. Shigure was never shocked about anything. He'd had to hang up on Shigure because the dog's frantic questions began freaking Kyo out even more. He didn't bother with Kisa and Hiro because he knew they were away at college. Rin had been with Haru. And no one had seen or heard from Hatori in years. (Or Ayame, for that matter.)

After three weeks, he found the courage to call Kagura. Not surprisingly, her phone number had changed, but wasn't left with the automated message. Kyo remembered that she'd promised to change it right after his confession, but if that were the case, there wouldn't have still been an automated message.

'It had to have been changed more recently,' he'd concluded.

A few days later, after steeling himself, he'd called Kagura's parents at the main house, hoping they could give him her new number. He didn't know what Kagura had told them about him other than the usual 'cat bashing' things and hoped they wouldn't hang up in his face. They turned out to be surprisingly cordial to him, not even asking why he'd needed the number before giving it to him.

'They knew,' he muses, tears still streaming in remembrance.

He'd held the number for two days before attempting to call. He'd made it to the last digit for the fifth time before he'd decided to try someone else, Tohru.

Though she'd been on her own for several years, she'd kept in touch with the Sohmas, as they were her extended family. Deciding he didn't want to alarm her on the phone, he'd suggested a visit. When Kyo asked to come by, she'd been elated, promising to fix all his favorite foods.

"I'll even make some leeks for Yuki'" she'd gushed.

Kyo had paled before making up some reason (another business trip most likely, he couldn't remember) why Yuki wouldn't be joining them. They'd had a spectacular dinner and caught up on current events in their lives, before Kyo finally confessed his real reason for being there.

"…and he hasn't been home since," he'd nearly whispered. "I have Kagura's number, but…" he'd faltered, looking away and stilling tears he'd been suppressing for weeks.

"Oh, Kyo," she'd sighed heavily. "Do you want me to call for you," she'd offered.

Trust Tohru to understand what he needed. He'd nodded weakly, handing her the number. Placing the phone on the table after clearing away the dishes, she'd dialed the number on 'speaker'.

"Hello?" Yuki's clear voice had answered after three rings. Tohru froze and Kyo broke, running to the bathroom and losing most of Tohru's delicious meal.

It was true! Akito told him the truth!

Kyo had sobbed in Tohru's bathroom and later in her guest room for almost four days. Knowing Kyo's tendency to run blindly or hurt himself in connection with emotional trauma, Tohru wisely never left him alone, calling in Haru and Shigure those first days to watch him while she worked. Shigure proved to be a great comfort, but Kyo could feel Haru's difficulty in keeping black Haru at bay. Kyo knew this sort of betrayal tore at Haru's soul and he'd wanted to find Yuki and Kagura and put them out of their misery. Had Rin not been there, Kyo had no doubt Haru would have succeeded.

In fact, between Tohru, Shigure, Rin and Haru he hadn't been alone since that day. Tohru wouldn't even let him back into the apartment, sending Rin over with her key (Tohru had always had a key to his and Haru's apartments) to get clothes for Kyo to wear to work. Somehow, she'd even convinced Kyo' boss that Kyo had been recuperating from a bad accident when he didn't show up to work for two weeks. One of them would even hang around his job to make sure he didn't disappear from there.

But today, he'd finally slipped away from their surveillance. Tohru, exhausted from a weeklong teaching seminar, didn't feel him slip into bed with her and change like she usually did. He'd tried that trick before; have her change him and then slip out, but she'd always awakened when he changed. This time, she continued to sleep soundly and he slipped out her bedroom window, dragging a pair of pants with him, as running around naked presented a likely way to get caught.

Shigure slept in the living room to make sure Kyo didn't go out the front door. The window in Kyo's room looked straight down for six stories, too high or him to jump in any form, but the window in Tohru's room looked over a park with a huge tree only two stories down. In his human form, it would have been impossible because of the protrusion of the branches, but in his cat form….

He still barely made the leap and lost his grip on the pants. The fact that the key hadn't fallen out of the pocket solidified his belief that he was doing the right thing. Waiting in a bush until he changed back, he threw on the pants and made his way home. It took nearly an hour walking and his bare feet were covered in scrapes and cuts, but he'd arrived. Pulling the single key from his pocket, he entered the place of his last great happiness and current great sorrow.

It probably would have been easier if Yuki had died. Leaving him for…for…Kagura…

Forcing back tears again, he'd stepped into their bedroom and instantly regrets it. Obvious signs that Yuki had been there were all over. Drawers still lay open, Yuki's clothes absent from them; closet half empty, Yuki's colognes gone from the dresser….

Kyo had fallen to his knees and sobbed, the ache of loss renewed with greater strength. He didn't know how long he'd cried there or when he'd cried himself to sleep, but the afternoon sun streamed through his bedroom when he rose. He'd stood in the room's center for a while before the rage took him.


End file.
